One Piece At A Time
by Spirit's Whisper
Summary: He found them one at a time, each one in a different world, these strange poems written by an even stranger author. The only thing he was wondering though was... who the hell was this Yuui person? Each chapter from a different arc. Many spoilers.
1. Behind These Eyes

**Disclaimer:** This poem is mine regardless of who it's about. Fai Flowright inspired it and he belongs entirely to the lovely ladies of CLAMP and Bee Train but this poem is still mine so -sticks tongue out maturely- there!

Yeah, I know it's nothing to be proud of. Do I care? Hell no.

**Author's Note:** Just a little something. If you haven't read the Outo arc then this will both contain spoilers and make absolutely no sense whatsoever. See end notes for requests and roughly when my other stories are due to be updated. Each chapter of this fic will probably take place in a different arc. Peace out.

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**~ Outo Country - Inside the Cat's Eye. ~**

Kurogane sighed, allowing his tired body to sink deeper into the chair with a soft sound. It'd been a long day... _'Hell,' _he mused _'It's been a long month.' _And so it had been though he couldn't rightly say why. Sure, he and the kid had been training pretty hard, and sure, he'd been running a lot of errands for the princess and the cafe which was for the sake of the feather even if only by proxy but neither were more strenuous than he was used to. Putting up with Tomoyo and Souma had been a lot more tiring than this and he'd been training a full rank of ninjas at the time- not to mentioned whatever other various tasks were involved in the protection of Nihon.

So, why was he so damn tired?

It was quiet. He could sit here all day and relax while the others were out and still his nerves were wound tighter than a cord. He couldn't figure it out as he tapped his fingers restlessly on the armrest but maybe... just maybe, that was the lie in it all. Maybe it was _too _quiet.

The idiot had been unnaturally distant lately, even the kids had noticed. Odd, yes, but then why was he getting so worked up about it? Well, because he knew exactly _why _the blond had been so off. The other night at the bar... after the bar... after fighting the demon... It all meshed together if he thought about it long enough but he still knew what he'd said to the other to make him so upset- even if the other wouldn't admit it behind his false smile.

He told him he hated people like him. People who weren't willing to fight for their lives.

He'd meant every word of it.

It wasn't like it was unusual. He'd pushed the mage before, telling him how disgusted he was with him, constantly making small remarks about his lies. Everything, but this time the other didn't bounce back like he should have and maybe, just maybe he was starting to think his words were too harsh even for the dense blond.

He sighed, trying once more to push the thoughts aside and relax. After all it wasn't like he could do anything about it this moment and he was sure the idiot would be back to running around like a hyperactive moron and calling him stupid names before the week was out. _'Just great.'_

That's when he noticed something just out the corner of his vision. A paper lying on the carpet.

Curious, since the kid and the princess never left anything lying around if they could help it, he picked it up and proceeded to read the delicate but extremely shaky handwriting.

_Behind these eyes I see the snow._

_The blood,  
The tears,  
And magic aglow._

_A past of a past,  
And my soul carved in half._

_My twin,  
My brother,  
The child of my mother._

-Dead.-

_My master,  
My teacher,  
My father and friend._

-Dead.-

_My heart,  
My hope,  
My passion and life._

-Dead.-

_My name,  
My self,  
My love and my light._

-Dead.-

_Driven to madness.  
A road with no end._

_~Yuui_

"Yuui?" He reread the poem, caught in the flow of it, and frowned. "Who the hell is Yuui?" Perhaps one of the customers dropped it when they had that lunchtime rush earlier but somehow he doubted it. At the first mention of snow he'd immediately thought of the mage but the signature... and besides the blond couldn't write, that's how they'd all ended up with such stupid names like 'Big Doggie' and the like.

Right?

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**Touch of Ice:** I have the first draft of this chapter done but it's gonna be another few days before I have it up to standard and then I'll have to have my two betas take a look at it before I'm willing to upload it. Sorry.

**Revenge of the Kurotan:** New chapter soon to be out. Would have posted it earlier but I want to go over it again while I'm in a good mood and considering my main email was either hacked or 'accidentally' deleted by Yahoo... that's not right now.

**Catching Butterflies:** I'm not sure when the next chapter of this will be out- preferably it will be out 'after' the next chapter of ToI just because that story is my priority and it actually has a full plot. Lol.

**Request makers:** Yes, I'm still taking requests people but I have to add one tiny rule for the moment. Please only ask me to write drabbles/bits and one-shots for right now. Pretty please? I love doing requests but I already have a lot of other chapter stories I'm working on (most of which aren't yet ready to be uploaded) right now and I don't want to abandon them. :) See my profile for details on what kinds of fics I'll take requests for.

Visit my homepage for more in depth updates, chapter hints, fan art by my sister, polls, and much more related to my fanfiction. I'll update it an hour or so after this chapter is up.


	2. The Mark A Warning

**Disclaimer:** You're joking right? I couldn't possibly own the wonderful'ness know as Tsubasa… they're all wearing their clothes still.

**Author's Note:** Holy crap, it's a bird, it's a plane… it's an update! Still in Outo country though some small insignificant time later. Remember, this is after the fight with the Oni where Fai hurts his ankle.

Unbetaed. Once tested. Enjoy.

**P.S. **Thank you all of you lovely reviewers, it was a certain handful of you who reviewed a lot of my stuff recently that really got me back to my keyboard. Thank you. Sorry no individual review replies this time but I promise next time.

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The mage whipped around at the sound of his voice, a mesh of understated horror and surprise running over his features before he had a chance to compose himself. "I didn't hear you come in, Kuro-stalker. Was there something you wanted?" His voice was strained by a ceramic smile- cold and fragile, as he wrestled his shirt back over shower fresh flesh.

In all honesty, Kurogane hadn't meant to spy on him. Hell, he hadn't even thought there was anything worth spying on until the other jumped, pulling up his defenses quicker than someone up to nothing should. All he'd done was walk into the room, it wasn't his fault the idiot didn't know how to shut the door when he wanted a little privacy, and even then- it's not like the mage had been doing anything scandalous.

When he'd entered he'd been met with the sight of Fai standing with his back to the mirror, resolutely twisting to look over his shoulder at whatever invisible affliction held his limited attention span. At first Kurogane had actually thought something was wrong, seeing as the mage didn't even notice his presence.

And then it clicked.

The tattoo he had reluctantly given the witch on that rainy day so many months ago.

It had been on his back.

"I said, it's not gonna come back just 'cause you keep looking for it." He repeated, trying not to wonder why he even bothered.

The mage tilted his head, playing coy. "What ever are you talking about, Big Doggie?"

"That stupid tattoo of yours."

Fai's eyes narrowed from one breath to the next while the rest of his face stayed eerily still, trapped between that ceramic smile and tainted tongue. "Obviously."

The ninja frowned as the other turned to walk away, venom clear in his throat. That was a weird answer considering he hadn't been the one to ask the question in the first place. Without thinking things through he grabbed his arm in passing, trying to turn him around. "What the hell is wrong with-"

He never got the chance to finish what he was saying as the deceptively petite blond ripped his arm away and kept on walking. "I have things to do."

Blinking, Kurogane stood there for a long moment wondering just what the hell had happened and why he was suddenly so pissed off. What did he care if that idiot wanted to be an… an idiot!

He felt like sticking his fist through a wall at the sheer stupidity of it all. If he didn't want anything seen or said then he should have just shut the damn door- and if he didn't want to talk about it all he had to do was say not play one of those stupid fricking games.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!

Before he knew it he was stomping out of the room half intent on giving that moron a piece of his mind and half intent on killing him,… only… as he rounded the corner he once again found himself in an empty café, the front door shutting without a presence in sight as if the mage had never even been there at all.

Almost wanting to run out after him the ninja resisted knowing he would be long gone by now and no one would find him unless he really wanted to be found. He growled to himself, clenching a fist and reminding himself one more time that he shouldn't even bother as he turned to go back to what he was doing before blondie caught his attention.

And then a paper crinkled underfoot.

He looked down and sure enough, it was another poem written in that strange flowing script.

_A mark__  
__A stigma_  
_A curse born in flesh_

_My face__  
__A lie_  
_And a treacherous mask_

_The scars__  
__The warning_  
_Reminder of the past._

_Telling__  
__And Yelling_  
_Just why I'm the Last._

_What once was__  
__Can never be._  
_What always has been_  
_They'll never see._

_But do I want that?_

_Or is it for the best?_

_To be invisible__  
__And protect the dark bleeding_  
_Heart in my chest?_

_~Yuui_

That name, it made his breath catch just to be reading it again under such words. He wasn't poetic by any standard of the word but whoever the customer was that had left this behind… it made him wonder.

And again it made him think of Fai.

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**Author's Note**: So, I'm on a different computer now. My writing nest is all pretty'ified and I finally have the mentality I need to start updating fics again. Once more- no promises this time but I'm hoping, really, really hoping, I can stick to my writerly morals for awhile. If I don't I ask you all to poke me frequently with long pointy sticks and remind me you've been waiting

Just make sure the sticks aren't shiny… I have an attention span issue with shiny things.


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